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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 2025).

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Friday, August 09, 2024

Album review: Art Themen Organ Trio - Live in Soho (Ubuntu Music)

Art Themen (tenor/alto sax); Pete Whittaker (organ, piano); George Double (drums)

After Art's recent storming and successful session at the Globe - a night that will go down in the venue's folk-lore - I looked forward to hearing more of Art Themen and, with this album, my wish was granted and I wasn't disappointed.

The classic organ trio line-up, so beloved back in the day by the bods at Blue Note, on this groove-laden live recording is up there in contention with the greats of the past, present and future. However, it's not all soulful funk. There's an eclectic mix of Latin, ballads, hard bop and some that avoid categorisation, all performed to perfection by three masters of their craft.

Chili Peppers: A tuneful riff composed by Duke Pearson has all three cutting loose with juke joint tenor,  groovin' B3 and kickass drums - definitely one to get your timbers etc. shivering on the dance floor.

Brahms...I Think: Zoot Sims...I think was semi-responsible for this strange, yet captivating piece that probably first saw the light of day in Germany. It bears a passing resemblance to a familiar classical piece but, as Brahms didn't score it for soprano sax over a bossa nova beat (shame on you Johann) I can't identify it further.

Country: A pastoral piece by Keith Jarrett. Whittaker is relatively restrained and, apart from an appassionata tenor blast Themen doesn't stray too far from the composer's intent. 

Groovy Samba: One of Cannonball's Brazilian belters. Soprano sax wailing over Double's Latin beat. Double is superb throughout and he helps himself to a solo along the way.
 
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face: You want ballad playing? You got it with this tenor/piano duo track. Whittaker takes the changes and augments them, diminishes them, inverts them and improves them. Down front the tenor draws out the essence of the tune, the romanticism of the words. Even though only the listener is silently singing, the burgeoning romance indicated by the song's title is there in the playing.

African Marketplace: Seemingly it's obligatory for organ trios to have an African number in their set list (I know of at least one other) and this Abdullah Ibrahim piece is given the full township treatment.

And What if I Don't?: A typical early Herbie groove and there's nothing wrong with that. Originally on Hancock's My Point of View it loses nothing by comparision. The gutsiest of gutsy tenor, the funkiest of funky Hammond I almost said that this was my favourite track on the album but then...

...Sophisticated Lady: This was something else! Totally unaccompanied tenor sax from start to finish. A nonpareil performance that puts Art Themen right up there in contention in the pecking order of tenor players.

The Cape Verdean Blues: A fitting hard bop blast to close a great album. The Horace Silver composition has long been a standard bearer of the genre and all three do it justice.

The album was recorded live on August 15, 2023 at Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho - hence the title.

Highly recommended. Lance

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